Latch assembly for closures



Sept. 21, 1965 R. P. MILLER LATCH ASSEMBLY FOR CLOSURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 27, 1962 Robert F. Mil/er Fig.

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LATCH ASSEMBLY FOR CLOSURES Filed July 27, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5

Robert P, Miller K j [04 INVENTOR. 25 I08 [02 BY M United States Patent 3,207,544 LATCH ASSEMBLY FOR CLOSURES Robert P. Miller, South Miami, Fla., assignor to Daryl Industries, Inc., Miami, Fla., a corporation of Florida Filed July 27, 1962, Ser. No. 212,789 6 Claims. (Cl. 292109) The present invention generally relates to a latch assembly for closure panels of various types and more particularly a latch assembly for a sliding door, window or other closure panel.

In present-day building structures, sliding doors, windows and other panels are being quite widely used. Such sliding closure panels are provided with a latch mechanism having a latch bolt engageable with a keeper carried by a stationary jamb. In commercially available latches for sliding doors and the like there is provided an arrangement in which an external thumb turning device or a lock cylinder provided with a cam directly engages or connects with the latch bolt. At least, the cam of the lock cylinder or the external thumb turn is directly linked to or actuates the bolt whereby the opening force applied to the latch bolt releasing mechanism is sometimes excessive. In a sliding or rolling door arrangement, there exists an inherent friction between the latch bolt and the keeper which receives the bolt when there is a misalignment. This friction requires a larger force to be exerted by the thumb turn or the lock cylinder resulting in considerable wear and annoyance and in some instances resulting in a broken key.

Accordingly, in the present invention, there is provided a relatively simple construction which will release the latch bolt by employing only a very small force for easily releasing the latch bolt regardless of the friction between the bolt and keeper with this force also serving to move the closure.

One object of the present invention is to provide a latch assembly which is extremely simple in construction and which essentially consists of two moving parts.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a latch assembly in which the bolt action is automatic after the release mechanism is tripped or released by a relatively small force.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a latch assembly which includes a release mechanism for the latch bolt which will enable the latch bolt to go through its locking and releasing movements repeatedly as long as the release is left in its open position thereby eliminating any possibility of being unintentionally locked out. After the release mechanism is moved to its locked position, the bolt can only go through its locking movement thus enabling the sliding door to be closed but preventing it from being opened until the release mechanism is moved to an open position.

Still another feature of the invention is to provide a release mechanism and a latch bolt having substantially a rotary action during its opening cycle whereby it is not effected by friction between it and the keeper.

Still another important feature of the present invention is to provide a latch assembly for a sliding closure panel such as a sliding door, sliding window or other sliding panel which is easy to install, extremely simple in construction, easy to use in that very little force is required to operate it and generally inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a sliding closure panel with the latch assembly of the present invention incorporated therein with portions broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the latch assembly with portions thereof illustrating the orientation of the components;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 3-3 of FIGURE 1 illustrating further structural details of the latch assembly;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the release member;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic-side elevational view illustrating the orientation of the components of the latch assembly when the release member is in locked position and the sliding panel is moved to a closed position and illustrating the latch bolt going through its locking cycle;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 but illustrating the structure in locked position;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURES 5 and 6 but illustrating the release member in open position and illustrating the latch bolt going through its releasing cycle;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view illustrating the construction of one of the side plates;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmental sectional view illustrating a slightly modified form of latch bolt spring structure;

and

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of another type of latch bolt spring structure.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the latch assembly of the present invention for mounting on a closure panel such as a sliding door or the like designated by numeral 12 for movement toward and away from a stationary jamb 14 provided with a hook-shaped stationary keeper 16 in which the hook-shaped keeper opens downwardly and has a rounded outer edge surface 18 which is of conventional configuration.

The latch assembly 10 includes a pair of side plates 20 and 22 that are spaced apart by cylindrical bushings 24 or the like. The cylindrical bushings receive fasteners 26 therethrough which retain the latch assembly in a suitable recess 28 in the edge of the sliding door 12. Disposed between the side plates 20 and 22 are the components of the latch assembly including a release member generally designated by numeral 30, a latch bolt generally designated by numeral 32 and a spring assembly generally designated by numeral 34.

Each side plate 20 and 22 has three arcuate slots formed therein designated by numerals 36, 38 and 40 which are orientated in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 8. The slots are for purposes of guiding and limiting the movement of the release member 30, the latch bolt 32 and one end of the spring 34.

The release member 30 is generally in the form of a bell-crank member having one leg or flange 42 provided with a flat abutment terminal end surface 44. The other leg or flange 46 terminates in a cylindrical end portion 48. The apex of the bell-crank formed at the juncture of the legs 42 and 46 is generally cylindrical as designated by numeral 50 and provided with a hexagonal, or other shaped bore 52 extending therethrough. The cylindrical sleeve 48 is provided with a bore 54 extending therethrough receiving a cylindrical pin 56 which projects beyond the ends of the sleeve 48 and which is slidably received in the arcuate slots 36 as clearly illustrated in FIGURE 2. The pin 56 may be continuous or it may be in the form of projecting studs which in either event are rigidly afiixed to the sleeve 48.

The polygonal bore 52 receives a similarly shaped rod 58 extending therethrough. The rod and bore may be hexagonal or any other appropriate shape and the release 30 pivots on the axis of the bar or rod 58 and the rod or bar 58 extends through a suitable opening 60 in the side plates thus journalling the release 30 therein.

The pivotal motion of the release member 30 is limited by the pin 56 sliding in the slot 36. When the release 30 is in the position so thatthe pin 56'is in the uppermost end of slot 36, the release 30 is in its locked position which is the position illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6. Conversely, when the-position of the release 30 is such that the pin 56 is in the bottom ends of the slots 36, the release 30 is in its open position which is the position illustrated in FIGURE 7.

Release 30 is manipulated to its open position by action of an external key cylinder lock cam 62 which extends through the side plates and engages the cylindrical sleeve 48 for operating the release 30. Alternatively, an external thumb turn connected to the hexagonal bar or shaft 58 may be employed for operating the release 30. The particular operating mechanism for the release 30 does not form any particular part of the present invention since any key operated mechanism or thumb operated turn mechanism or any other suitable type of turning mechanism may be employed for pivoting the release member 30 from its locked to its open position. Normally, the release 30 will be returned to its locked position by an external thumb turn.

The bolt 32 is in the form of an elongated member 64 having a rounded nose end 66 for engagement with the rounded end 18 of the keeper 16. The rounded nose 66 terminates in an upwardly and inwardly inclined cam surface 68 merging with a fiat surface 70 for engagement with the hook-shaped keeper 16 so that the flat surface 70 is parallel with and engages'the flat surface 72 on the keeper when the latch bolt is in latching relation with the keeper as illustrated in FIGURE 6. The top surface of the member 64 which extends to the latching surface 70 is relieved or cutaway as designated by numeral 74 thus providing a. space for receiving the downwardly opening hook-shaped keeper 16. The inner end of the member 64 is provided with an upwardly offset portion 76 having an abutment top surface 78 for engagement by the abutment edge surface 44 of the leg 42 of the release member 30.

The forward bottom portion of the member 64 is provided with a pin 80 extending therethrough and projecting beyond the side edges thereof with the pin 80 being slidably received within the slots 40. The rear portion 76 of the member 64 is provided with a pin 82which projects beyond the side surface of the latch bolt 64 and is slidably received in the slots 38. Thus, the two end portions of the latch bolt 32 are guided in their arcuate movement by the slots 38 and 40 respectively.

The spring 34 is in the form of an arcuate leaf spring 84 having a sleeve 86 on the inner end thereof received on a stationary pin 88 carried by the side plates 20 and 22. The other end of the spring 84 is provided with a sleeve 90 receiving a pin 92 which projects through a pair of cylindrical end portions 94 carried on depending arms 96 integral with the latch bolt 64 whereby the spring 84 will normally urge the latch bolt forwardly so that the spring will assume a near straightline condition as illustrated in FIGURE 6 but which will permit the latch bolt 64 to move downwardly and rearwardly to the position illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 7 respectively.

Bolt 32 has two main movements, only one of which can take place at a time. The first movement is such that when the keeper 16 enters into the latch, the bolt 32 moves back against the pressure of the spring 84. Then, due to the angle of contact between the surfaces 18 and 68 of the keeper and latch bolt respectively, the bolt 32 pivots on pin 82 downwardly and pin 80 moves downwardly in slots 40 which movement is shown in FIG- URE 5. When the tip of the book of the keeper 16 passes the tip of the hook of the bolt 32 'as is occurring in FIGURE 5, the bolt returnsto the position shown in FIGURE 6 due to the pressure exerted thereon by the s ring 84. The sliding panel is then in locked position face 78 so that it cannot move upwardly. Since the engaging surfaces 70 and '72 on the latch bolt and keeper respectively are vertical and parallel, the latch bolt will be retained in locked position and the. sliding panel will be retained in closed position.

' The second movement of bolt 32 is to pivot on pin when there is a pull out force exerted by the keeper on the hook-shaped end of the latch bolt. This rotation around pin 80 is normally prevented by the release 30 being in its locked position. When the release 30 is moved to its open position by pivoting the release 30 about the axis of the shaft 58 by moving the pin 56 downwardly in their slots 36, the latch bolt 30 is then free to pivot on pin 80 and pin 82 travels in the slots 38. This free movement of the bolt 32 allows the withdrawal of the keeper 16 as clearly shown in FIGURE 7. When the bolt has been fully retracted and the keeper and bolt separated, the bolt 72 then returns to the position illustrated in FIGURE 6 due to the pressure exerted by the spring 84. The release 30 can be left in its open position allowing the latch to go through the two movements repeatedly. However, when the release is in its locked position as illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6, the bolt can only go through its locking movement only. Due to the rotary action of the bolt in its opening cycle, it is not affected by friction between it and the keeper.

FIGURE 9 illustrates an optional type of spring assembly in the form of a coil spring 98 which replaces the flat leaf spring 84. The coil spring 98 is provided with loops 100 on the ends thereof engaging the pins 88 and 92 respectively. Operation of the coil spring 98 is substantially the same as the fiat leaf spring 84 but the coil spring requires less vertical space since it does not deflect into the generally semi-circular configuration of the spring 84 and thus would have some advantage of compactness of installation.

FIGURE 10 illustrates another type of spring 102 employed in lieu of the leaf spring 84 or the coilspring 98'. The spring 102 is generally U-shaped and provided with legs 104 with a loop 106 on the free ends thereof for receiving pin 88. Adjacent the bight portion 108, a pair of loops 110 for receiving the pin 92. Each l-eg 104 has a multiple coil loop 112 in the center portion thereof which provides for resilient flexing of the spring 102 in an obvious manner.

With the present construction, the release member 30.

and the latch bolt 32 constitute essentially all of the moving components and in order to operate the release member 30, it is only necessary to exert sufficient force to pivot the release members. It is not necessary in this arrangement to exert sufficient force to overcome frictional engagement between the latch bolt 'and the latch keeper. Further, in this arrangement, the rotational movement of the latch bolt when it moves from a latched position to an unlatched position eliminates any interference with such movement by any friction which may exist between the keeper and the latch bolt. Thus, with this assembly, there is provided a very simple construction which is long lasting and dependable and yet which is easily installed and requires very little force in operation when opening the door and also requires relatively small force in closing the door or other sliding panel in which the present invention is installed.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A latch assembly for a sliding panel comprising mounting plate means, a latch bolt movably mounted on the mounting plate means, and a release member rotatably mounted on the mounting plate means and including means releasably engaging the latch bolt and preventing it from movement in one direction while enabling the latch bolt to move in a direction to enable it to engage a keeper, said release member being movable to disengage from the latch bolt for enabling the latch bolt to move to a position enabling it to rotate to release itself from engagement from a keeper, said release member being in the form of a substantially bell-crank shaped member having the apex thereof pivotally mounted on the mounting plate means, the means on said release member for engaging the latch bolt including an abutment surface on one leg of the release member, the other leg of said release member having a projecting pin thereon said mounting plate means having arcuate slot means therein slidably receiving the pin and guiding and limiting the movement of the release member, said release member being pivotally operated from a point exteriorly of the sliding panel thereby necessitating the application of force only sufficient to move the release member from the position with the abutment in engagement with the latch bolt to a position with the abutment out of the path of movement of the latch bolt.

2. A latch assembly for a sliding panel comprising mounting plate means, a latch bolt movably mounted on the mounting plate means, and a release member rotatably mounted on the mounting plate means and including means releasably engaging the latch bolt and preventing it from movement in one direction while enabling the latch bolt to move in a direction to enable it to engage a keeper, said release member being movable to disengage from the latch bolt for enabling the latch bolt to move to a position enabling it to rotate to release itself from engagement from a keeper, said latch bolt being in the form of an elongated member having a hook-shaped end portion for engagement with a downwardly opening hook-shaped keeper, projecting pin means adjacent each end of the latch bolt, said mounting plate means having spaced arcuate slots receiving the projecting pin means for guiding and limiting the movement of the latch bolt and enabling the latch bolt to rotate to substantially a vertical position to enable the latch bolt to be disengaged from the keeper and also enabling the forward portion of the latch bolt to move downwardly to reengage the keeper when the sliding panel is moved toward the keeper thus enabling the repeated cyclic movement of the latch bolt when the release member is disengaged therefrom, said release member engaging the latch bolt adjacent the innermost end in order to prevent movement in a rotary manner thus preventing the latch bolt from disengaging from the keeper but still permitting the forward end of the latch bolt to move downwardly for locking engagement with the keeper.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said release member is in the form of a substantially bell-crank shaped member having the apex thereof pivotally mounted on the mounting plate means, the means on said release member for engaging the latch bolt including an abutment surface on one leg of the release member, the other leg of said release member having a projecting pin thereon said mounting plate means having arcuate slot means therein slidably receiving the pin and guiding and limiting the movement of the release member, said release member being pivotally operated from a point exteriorly of the sliding panel thereby necessitating the application of force only suflicient to move the release member from the position with the abutment in engagement with the latch bolt to a position with the abutment out of the path of movement of the latch bolt to release the latch assembly when the release member is grasped for opening the sliding panel.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein spring means in the form of a U-shaped spring having attaching loops at each end and a multiple coil loop in the center of each leg thereof interconnects the latch bolt and mounting plate means.

5. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein spring means in the form of a leaf spring interconnects the latch bolt and mounting plate means.

6. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein spring means in the form of a coil compression spring interconnects the latch bolt and mounting plate means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 62-,136 2/67 James 292-210 587,424 8/97 Bonine 29221O 648,120 4/00 Brown 292210 774,206 11/04 Seaman 2922l0 1,046,336 12/ 12 Schatz 2921 14 1,060,019 4/13 Pederson 29299 1,253,474 1/18 De Voe 292210 2,293,700 8/42 Curtiss 292220 2,842,814 7/58 Lindgren.

FOREIGN PATENTS 33,210 5/24 Denmark.

References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,293,700 8/42 Curtiss.

M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

ALBERT H. KAMPE, Examiner. 

1. A LATCH ASSEMBLY FOR A SLIDING PANEL COMPRISING MOUNTING PLATE MEANS, A LATCH BOLT MOVABLY MOUNTED ON THE MOUNTING PLATE MEANS, AND A RELEASABLE MEMBER ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE MOUNTING PLATE MEANS AND INCLUDING MEANS RELEASABLY ENGAGING THE LATCH BOLT AND PREVENTING IT FROM MOVEMENT IN ONE DIRECTION WHILE ENABLING THE LATCH BOLT TO MOVE IN A DIRECTION TO ENABLE IT TO ENGAGE A KEEPER, SAID RELEASE MEMBER BEING MOVABLE TO DISENGAGE FROM THE LATCH BOLT FOR ENABLING THE LATCH BOLT TO MOE TO A POSITION ENABLING IT TO ROTATE TO RELEASE ITSELF FROM ENGAGEMENT FROM A KEEPER, SAID RELEASE MEMBER BEING IN THE FORM OF A SUBSTANTIALLY BELL-CRANK SHAPED MEMBER HAVING THE APEX THEREOF PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE MOUNTING PLATE MEANS, THE MEANS ON SAID RELEASE MEMBER FOR ENGAGING THE LATCH BOLT INCLUDING AN ABUTMENT SURFACE 